Dr. Brian Erling is no longer CEO of Penrose-st. Francis Health Services, the hospital system confirmed Tuesday.

“We wish him well,” said Lindsay Radford, director of communications for Centura Health. Centura Health, parent company of Penrose-st. Francis, declined to provide information about the circumstances of Erling’s departure.

“Per our policy, we do not

comment on personnel matters,” Radford said, adding, “Centura Health senior leaders and the Board of Trustees for Penrose-st. Francis have begun the process of identifying candidates for our next CEO.”

Glenn Strebe, chair of the Penrose-st. Francis Health Services Board of Trustees, declined to comment. The Gazette tried to contact other board members, including Martha Marzolf and David Lord, who did not respond to attempts to reach them. Board member Darryl Glenn, a former City Councilman and El Paso County commissioner, did not provide information and directed the request for comment to Strebe.

Erling was named CEO of Penrose-st. Francis Health Services in 2018 after several months as interim CEO, taking over from Margaret Sabin, who resigned. He joined Centura in 2016, first as group chief medical officer.

Before joining Centura, Erling spent three years at Emcare Alliance Group, which manages more than 6,000 providers in hospital-based medical specialties, in Denver

as executive vice president and president.

He also spent six years as director of Denver-based ambulance operator American Medical Response and was president of Apex Emergency Group in Denver for nearly 11 years.

Penrose-st. Francis Health Services includes Penrose Hospital and St. Francis Hospital, and Centura Health is building St. Francis Hospital-interquest, a 72-bed, $170 million hospital on Colorado Springs’ north side, to join the system, with a planned opening in July. St. Francis Hospital-interquest will specialize in orthopedic and spine care and employ about 400 people.